Peau Productions vs Back-Bone Ribcage

SurfnSkate81 · Feb 10, 2016

I thinking about getting rid of the dreaded fisheye and sick of getting the left leg in my shots even when flying slow. I want to keep shooting with wide and use the full width of the cameras sensor and can't find a solution in post (DaVinci Resolve Lite) that does not crop my image and resize it that I like.

One that comes close is Boris Continuum using the lens correction plugin borisfx.com/products/continuum-complete/?host=resolveHost I could use this (see this Vimeo video)
and then letterbox my frame to 2.35:1 (which I will be doing a lot anyway) but given the price tag I could just get a lens mod and then have one less step in my post workflow.

I know a few of you have a Peau Productions mod, but what about a comparison to Back-Bones Ribcage Air with one of their lenses?

What do you guys think? Is a lens mod going to get the legs out of the shot through the full range of the gimbal movement, from 0 to 90 degrees tilt? This is really my number one problem, followed by removing fisheye.

I'm currently steering towards the Peau Productions 3.97mm lens, the videos on their website are making my wallet open.

PdxSteve · Feb 10, 2016

Stock lens is 172 degrees FOV....almost 180 degrees! That's why the leg shows up. Almost impossible for it to not.
The 3.97, 4.35 and 5.4 are all between 60 and 82 degrees FOV. The legs will never show up since the FOV is so much narrower (meaning you do lost almost 50% of the picture area that the stock lens captures).

I'd guess any lens under 130 deg FOV would avoid the legs, no matter what brand it is.

There is also the upcoming sliding leg mod from Relish3D which will let you "spread the legs" of the solo wider to get them out of view (still will have fisheye - but no legs).
Solo Sliders Prototype

SurfnSkate81 · Feb 10, 2016

Thanks Steve.

I guess I could go with the Relish3D mod, I have already said in thread for it that I will be buying them but that still won't solve my fisheye correction problem. I really want to be using the full frame of the GoPro in 4K wide and not have to use 2.7K medium (which would still require a small amount of lens distortion correction anyway).

I may have another problem with editing that 4K video using CineForm codec but that is another issue I am still to test / research and will probably have to use proxies for my ageing MacBook Pro, but as long as I can deliver 4K that hasn't been stretched to the 4K frame from less pixels that is what I'm after.

I guess you can't have everything. Thanks again for your input.

Maddog · Feb 10, 2016

@SurfnSkate81 did you see this?

3 STANDOFFS

SurfnSkate81 · Feb 10, 2016

@Maddog I did read through that thread not sure if I like the idea of having salty ocean air going straight through the inside of Solo.

Not really a solution to my problem. If only 3DR actually thought of these things before coming to market with something we all seem to be spending time trying to iron out what should have been done from the beginning. They should be employing some of the people on this site to design what they should have.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maddog · Feb 10, 2016

SurfnSkate81 said:
@Maddog I did read through that thread not sure if I like the idea of having salty ocean air going straight through the inside of Solo.

Not really a solution to my problem. If only 3DR actually thought of these things before coming to market with something we all seem to be spending time trying to iron out what should have been done from the beginning. They should be employing some of the people on this site to design what they should have.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree with your entire post- actually, the 1st time I looked at that thread I didn't notice the big opening the mod leaves.

erikgraham · Feb 11, 2016

SurfnSkate81 said:
Thanks Steve.

I guess I could go with the Relish3D mod, I have already said in thread for it that I will be buying them but that still won't solve my fisheye correction problem. I really want to be using the full frame of the GoPro in 4K wide and not have to use 2.7K medium (which would still require a small amount of lens distortion correction anyway).

I may have another problem with editing that 4K video using CineForm codec but that is another issue I am still to test / research and will probably have to use proxies for my ageing MacBook Pro, but as long as I can deliver 4K that hasn't been stretched to the 4K frame from less pixels that is what I'm after.

I guess you can't have everything. Thanks again for your input.

I'd go with the Peau 3.97 and have them remove the lens profile.

I like the 3.97 because after the mod the GoPro is the same weight and perfectly balances in the gimbal. Any filters you may have will fit.

EROC · Nov 1, 2016

erikgraham said:
I'd go with the Peau 3.97 and have them remove the lens profile.

I like the 3.97 because after the mod the GoPro is the same weight and perfectly balances in the gimbal. Any filters you may have will fit.

I have noticed some people warn about the lens becoming out of focus, but I am not sure how it was installed. After having Peau Productions install the lens does it become out of focus when removing or adding a lens filter?

n01kn0ws · Nov 1, 2016

EROC said:
I have noticed some people warn about the lens becoming out of focus, but I am not sure how it was installed. After having Peau Productions install the lens does it become out of focus when removing or adding a lens filter?

No bcs you are not putting filter on the lens but on the plastic ring...

SteveReno · Nov 1, 2016

I might be wrong But, Ver 5.0 for GoPro has a setting that fixes "Fisheye" for 2 resolutions 2.7k & other? I haven't upgraded, so i don't know for sure.

Maddog · Nov 1, 2016

SteveReno said:
I might be wrong But, Ver 5.0 for GoPro has a setting that fixes "Fisheye" for 2 resolutions 2.7k & other? I haven't upgraded, so i don't know for sure.

2.7K and 1080P according to the GoPro website.

PdxSteve · Nov 1, 2016

Yes but software correction isn't nearly as good quality-wise as not having to correct it to begin with, and there is also image cropping with software so you lose fov.

Maddog · Nov 2, 2016

PdxSteve said:
Yes but software correction isn't nearly as good quality-wise as not having to correct it to begin with, and there is also image cropping with software so you lose fov.

Thanks Steve- I hadn't thought of that.

David Boulanger · Nov 2, 2016

Once you have a non fisheye lens you'll never go back. Its full sensor use.
Regards,
David R. Boulanger

SteveReno · Nov 6, 2016

PdxSteve said:
Yes but software correction isn't nearly as good quality-wise as not having to correct it to begin with, and there is also image cropping with software so you lose fov.

True.

twitchyzero · Nov 6, 2016

who's the smart one at gopro who decided on fisheye to begin with? It's not more appealing even in first-person perspective. It's not actually any more cost-effective either.

erikgraham · Nov 8, 2016

EROC said:
I have noticed some people warn about the lens becoming out of focus, but I am not sure how it was installed. After having Peau Productions install the lens does it become out of focus when removing or adding a lens filter?

If you twist the filter off the lens then you can defocus the lens because the friction will cause the lens itself to twist a little bit. Pull the filter straight off so as to reduce twisting. Use a sharpy to mark the GoPro casing and the lens sleeve so you can visually see if it's out of alignment. Then just twist the lens back into alignment. You might need to use pliers.

EROC · Nov 9, 2016

erikgraham said:
If you twist the filter off the lens then you can defocus the lens because the friction will cause the lens itself to twist a little bit. Pull the filter straight off so as to reduce twisting. Use a sharpy to mark the GoPro casing and the lens sleeve so you can visually see if it's out of alignment. Then just twist the lens back into alignment. You might need to use pliers.

Good job on writing up the how-to. After testing linear mode from the update I am wondering if PeauProductions lens is worth it.

Maddog · Nov 9, 2016

EROC said:
Good job on writing up the how-to. After testing linear mode from the update I am wondering if PeauProductions lens is worth it.

I'm not an expert on any of this but one did post that a linear photo obtained by a lens is superior to one achieved with software as the software conversion to linear loses picture quality.